The Trail Blazers sent out a promising news release Thursday afternoon that frees fans in areas that can NOT get Comcast to stream the team's games at a cost.

Per the release:

...every locally-broadcasted game
airing on Comcast SportsNet Northwest (CSN) will be accessible via
television or Internet to fans throughout Oregon and Southwest
Washington. In addition, the team will continue to stream every game
broadcasted on KGW.

The release is a little confusing, but a source in the front office tells me that basically, if you live in an area where you can already buy Comcast, you're still unable to stream the games, or buy them on the NBA League Pass.

Comcast has blacked out the Blazers area.

However, if you're among those who live in areas where you can't buy Comcast --- namely the Oregon Coast and spots across the state --- you are now able to stream the games for the remainder of the season for $69.99. A few cities that can now access streaming include Medford, Astoria, Lincoln City, Seaside and Pendleton.

Larry Miller, Blazers president, told me: "We've been working with Comcast
and the league non-stop. We finally were able to get to a situation
where we got this to where we got this. The league was helpful, Comcast
was helpful.

"We've been trying since I got here to get this resolved. We're still
going to be pushing to get satellite companies to carry the games. We
haven't given up on that. This is an interim step that gives everybody
an option."

Per Blazers release:

Fans that live where CSN is unavailable within the NBA-approved Trail Blazers territory will have the option to stream games live on trailblazers.com beginning Sunday, Jan. 1, when the Trail Blazers visit the Los Angeles Clippers. The six locally broadcasted games between Jan. 1 and Jan. 11 will be available on a free trial basis. Starting Friday, Jan. 13 at San Antonio, fans will have the option to purchase games à la carte for $2.99/game, or select the remaining 53 games during the 2011-12 season as a package for $69.99.

They're using your billing zip code to determine eligibility.

To find out which option is available in your area, fans need to
visit here and enter you zip code.